State Literary Awards today

Athapatthu BANDARA

The State Literary Awards ceremony 2011 will be held at Mahawa Vijayaba Madya Maha Vidyalaya, under the patronage of Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne today.

Best authors of 2010 will receive trophies and financial awards at the ceremony Cultural Affairs Ministry Secretary Wimal Rubasingha told the Daily News. The opening of the newly constructed Simon Nawagaththegama Theatre at Vijayaba MMV will also take place parallel to the festival.

Culture and Arts Minister T.B. Ekanayake and Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena will be present.

The best literary works published from January 1 to December 31, 2010 will be awarded the Sahityaratna along with a cash prize.

Around 1,001 books in all three languages, in Sinhala, Tamil and English published in 2010 and registered with the Department of Government Archives have been evaluated in four stages.